Oil Volume

[Bobby Bhuna]

So, oil volume...

I've noticed that every good take away I bring home is swimming in the stuff. Especially the next day.

I'm no oil pussy - I use a fair bit, both in the base and in the curry. Not as much as the BIRs must be by my reckoning, because my curries never have that 2mm+ layer on the top the next day.

How much are you guys using? I tend to use about 200ml - 300ml per 6 onion base and a good 4 or more tbsp at the curry stage. I'm thinking more! Who's with me?

I particularly notice the oil in the Bhuna, my gf's favourite dish. The whole sauce is held together by the stuff. It seems like there's little water in there!

For my next base, I intend to utilise a good 750ml, along with caramelised onions by the bucket load, in chase of that delightful savouryness (and that baxters french onion soup flavour I'm out for) that our more long term experienced members seem to lust after so much.

What are your thoughts? I'd particularly like to hear from Jerry on this one, as I know this is something he has been looking at in detail with his ongoing work with the CR0 base development, although as always, I am eager to hear from everyone who has been making their own observations on this topic.

Cheers,

BB.

[JerryM]

Oil for me is key part of BIR.

I've found too little oil in the base is no good but too much is also no good.

I also find the best BIR/TA meals (the ones i would give a 9/10 or 10/10) don't hardly have any oil floating on top.

i currently aim for an oil volume of 19% of the onion by weight (or 10% by initial chopped onion volume) ie 800g onion needing 150ml of oil. i've also had very good results with 6% (onion only bases). so i guess between 10 and 20% is somewhere like ideal depending upon your personal preference.

up until recently this was not important to me as i added more than needed and reclaimed the surplus oil at the end. i've now started reclaiming the oil before blending so it's back important again. i don't feel it's practical to leave it on the base surface like the BIR video otherwise this would be the best solution by far (when i get a new stock pan this is how i will do it though as long as i can get it in the fridge).

the other thing is i don't see the base to be too critical on the oil - yes u need enough to cook the onions. i feel it's at the frying stage where the oil is more critical. i've been using 2 tbsp per 200ml portion. my new chef spoon is ~4 tbsp and from the recent BIR video i feel i need to give this a go.

[Bobby Bhuna]

i currently aim for an oil volume of 19% of the onion by weight (or 10% by initial chopped onion volume)

Can I borrow your pipette? ;D

[parker21]

hi if you leave the base simmering like in as a bir kitchen you have preheated oil ready for you to use. we have no need to leave a massive pot of base simmering unless you are cooking for loads of peeps, if you are then you should have kept quite about how good your curries are ;D


regards
gary

[JerryM]

gary,

sorry if u thought i was suggesting keeping the base simmering - certainly not. the trouble is we use my existing ?small? approx 4L stock pan for other things (so i can't store the base in it in the fridge) and when i try and switch containers i loose the oil on the surface. having a pan which i can just put straight in the fridge i think will sort.

I must admit I?m also toying with sticking with my current practise of taking oil off before blending ? this works well but u then need to know your oil volumes which I?m not confident that I do fully. the fridge size limits the size of stock pan i can go for and may make it not really worth it (thinking of a 10L).

[Bobby Bhuna]

small approx 4L stock pan

You should see mu new baby from the Indian cash and carry. It's enormous. A six large onion base is about 1/8 of the way up this thing. Brilliant! Also only cost 18 quid!

[Spottymaldoon]

I'm no oil pussy - I use a fair bit, both in the base and in the curry. Not as much as the BIRs must be by my reckoning, because my curries never have that 2mm+ layer on the top the next day.

How much are you guys using? I tend to use about 200ml - 300ml per 6 onion base and a good 4 or more tbsp at the curry stage. I'm thinking more! Who's with me?

Dammit I have to put the oil in when the wife is not looking -if she sees I say "Don't worry, dear, we shall skim of the oil after it's cooked!" Like Hell we shall

I remember my "A" level chemistry - partition coefficient - to demonstrate they would take a dye (here it is an essential oil like oil of clove) and add water in a test tube and shake. The water would take on a tinge of colour. Then they added a solvent and shake - here it's hot oil - and the solvent would take on a brilliant colour. The dye was seen to be 'partitioned' at a much higher concentration into the solvent than into water. Oil is therefore the 'transfer medium' in much cookery, which extracts the essential oils from the spices and delivers them to the meat etc. No doubt it also (and maybe this is even more important) delivers the taste to the tongue and the aroma to the olfactory apparatus!

In contemplating the various spices I find that I separate them into two broad categories: "fragrant" - clove, cardamom, cinnamon, bay and "dark" or "savory" like cumin, methi, black cardamom, corriander. My believe is that a 'right' curry must have a correct balance between these ying and yang components!

I had a "butter chicken" on Saturday, served at a golf club and it had more "BIR" taste (yes, that "smoky" aroma was evident) than I have ever produced at home. Infuriating.

Spotty

[Spottymaldoon]

And, by the way, we can all see the effects of 'partition': notice how the oil takes the colour of paprika and turmeric so much more strongly than does the water gravy - thus we gaze into a pot with a great grin upon seeing the highly authentic colour of the surface (floating oil) - only to have that grin fade into a scowl when the pot has been stirred - and the anaemic quality of the underlying water gravy is exposed. As with the coloured essences, so too with the flavourful ones.

Spotty